MA Democrats File Complaint After Police Officer Named As Fundraiser Host

WORCESTER, MA — The chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party recently filed an ethics complaint over a Worcester police sergeant's supposed hosting of a fundraiser for Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette's Congressional campaign.

But Richard Cipro, who ran in 2021 for the Worcester District 1 City Council seat, says he has not helped raise money for Sossa-Paquette, and didn't attend the fundraiser named in the complaint. Under state law, public employees are barred from raising money for political campaigns.

On March 8, MassDems Chair Gus Bickford emailed the state Ethics Commission and the Office of Campaign and Political Finance describing a possible breach of state law after Cipro was listed as the host of a fundraiser for Sossa-Paquette. The Shrewsbury Republican is running against U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, in 2022.

An advertisement for the March 9 fundraiser was posted on the Fighting For New England PAC Facebook page. The ad also listed former Worcester District 5 Council candidate Gregory Stratman — a former state trooper — and Kathy Roy from the Worcester Republican City Committee. The fundraiser was also advertised on printed fliers.

Sossa-Paquette campaign manager David Shapiro said the March 9 fundraiser did not happen due to a snowstorm, and Cipro's inclusion on the flier was a mistake.

"He's a friend of [Sossa-Paquette], we put him in there not thinking it could be a conflict of interest," Shapiro said. "It's a nothing thing."

"We should've put he was a guest instead of a host," Sossa-Paquette said Wednesday, noting that the March 9 fundraiser included only campaign staff due to the weather.

Shapiro said the campaign has spoken with state investigators about the flier. Cipro said he had not heard from the state yet, but would cooperate with the investigation.

"I did not attend any fundraiser for stated candidate and had no prior knowledge of my name being on a flier. I am familiar with the law having run for office in the past. I never violated the law in regards to my own campaign, why would I do it for another?" Cipro said in an email this week.

During his 2021 city council run, Cipro was involved in an ethics tussle with his opponent, District 1 Councilor Sean Rose. Because he's a city police officer, the Ethics Commission advised Cipro he would likely have to recuse himself during any votes around police matters, including during the annual budget process.

Fighting For New England PAC is based in Warwick, RI, and generally supports Republican candidates running across the Northeast, PAC member Raymond McKay said. The PAC has donated $250 to Sossa-Paquette's campaign so far in 2022.

The state Ethics Commission responded to Bickford on March 8 saying it was reviewing the complaint. In general, the results of Ethics Commission investigations don't get released publicly, unless the subject chooses to disclose the result.

Sossa-Paquette said he had spoken to state officials about the complaint as recently as Tuesday, but had not received final word on whether the complaint was resolved.

Bickford said it's "deeply disturbing" that Sossa-Paquette seemed to be unaware of laws around what public employees can and can't do for political campaigns.

“It is absolutely wild that the Sossa-Paquette campaign thinks it’s OK to arbitrarily add people's names to campaign fundraising materials without the approval of those people and without regard for the law," Bickford said. "What other rules does he think don't apply to him?”